


This isn't Love

by Midnight Wolf (Larkawolfgirl)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Love, Other, anti-sasusaku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 13:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4021831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larkawolfgirl/pseuds/Midnight%20Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She continued to watch him, and he was just so attractive. Her body grew, and she would have willingly given it to him at any point. She longed to be held within those beautiful arms. Didn’t that mean that she wanted his affection? That she cared about him? Wasn’t that love?</p>
            </blockquote>





	This isn't Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is my personal headcanon of at least how I think Sakura's character should be. I was always patiently waiting for Sakura to say that she had either moved on after the bad things that Sasuke had done or to realize that she had never loved him to begin with.

Love is an intangible concept. One so intangible that many fail to understand it to the extent that they either fall in love without realizing or take it to be something else. Sakura was one of these people. She had watched Sasuke with an attentive eye since childhood. Part of this was because Ino ranted about her feelings for him, and to the immature, drama is an unavoidable, sometimes sought after, occurrence.

The more Sakura watched him the more taken by his skills she became. He seemed perfect at everything he did, the exact opposite of a certain someone, something she didn’t forget to tell the annoyance. Sasuke was distant from everyone, but this just made getting to know him that much more exciting. It became her top-secret mission to learn as much about him that she could. Even so, she never truly knew him as well as Naruto grew to during their time together as Team 7. She had been blinded by her own expectations.

She wore her hair long because she thought he would like it, but the only comment he ever made was that it was a hindrance. Therefore, when she cut her hair that day during the Chunin exams, she felt only a hint of remorse and she never went back. Sasuke was mature, and so, she should be too. Short hair was more practical. She had hoped that maybe he would praise her. But of course he did not.

She continued to watch him, and he was just so attractive. Her body grew, and she would have willingly given it to him at any point. She longed to be held within those beautiful arms. Didn’t that mean that she wanted his affection? That she cared about him? Wasn’t that love? She had thought so.

Sasuke’s decision to leave the village came like a blow to her burning cheeks. She had thought she knew him, but she hadn’t known anything. Revenge hadn’t seemed serious to her until that moment. Love can grow over time, or at least that’s what she had once been told. It was evident that he didn’t care enough about her to stay, but perhaps if she went with him, showed him just how much she cared, he could grow to love her back. And so, she begged, pleaded, tears falling as her insides seared. She had been so vulnerable, so sincere. But he hadn’t cared.

It took a long time to sink in, but that was the moment that she realized that she didn’t love him, though whatever that feeling she had for him lingered.

It wasn’t love.

Refusing to see this, she begged Naruto to bring him back. It had been cruel, but she did it nonetheless. When he returned empty-handed, she mourned a love that had never existed.

Always, in the back of her mind she hoped that he would finish with his revenge and come back to her, that whatever crimes he had committed could be overlooked. But the more time passed, the harsher his intentions and actions became. He would kill whoever he needed to in order to reach his goals, including her. That strike on her life was the final shattering straw.

She accepted his eventual apology with a bittersweet heart. The flick upon her forehead was affectionate, and she could feel the threat of tears and a nostalgic flutter of her heart, but she knew that it wasn’t love, at least not for her.

And so, when he returned much later, sick of constant missions and travels, when he was ready to settle down and asked her to do so with him, she answered earnestly, “You don’t know how long I have waited for those words. But they are too late. What I felt for you was never love. It only took time to realize.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] This Isn't Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4413872) by [ShippingWhore (Larkawolfgirl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larkawolfgirl/pseuds/ShippingWhore)




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